Hello. A couple of tip-of-the-tongue questions for all you wordy boffins (no offence):*I'm sure I remember seeing a word for when Roman emperors gave a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to gladiators. It may be derived from 'pollex'. *There's a word for the irritation in your throat that precedes a cough that I can't recall. Might begin with 'p'.

To add a tiny bit to Father Steve's info, I was taught when studying the Colosseum that the base phrase was pollicem vertere meaning “to turn the thumb”. It is not certain that the popular conception that 'thumbs up = spare him' is correct. Neither, come to that, is there a lot of solid ground for the other thing we all 'know' about the games ~ that they all faced the Emperor's box saying "We who are about to die salute you". I learned that there seemed to only be one documented example of this (Suetonius?) and that was from an execution event (one of the naumachia staged by the nice Claudius!) rather than a gladiatorial contest.

Many years ago, when I was a supervisor in a large prosecuting attorney's office, I had to approve or disapprove a hundred requests a day. I bought a small, square rubber stamp on which a fist with a thumb sticking out was printed. I would use it with a red ink pad and rotate it so that the thumb faced up for approval or the thumb faced down for disapproval. I'd put my initials over the fist part and send the document on its way. Funny how you remember things like that. Funnier still that, in the super-serious world of a prosecutor's office, I got away with doing it at all.

Bingley sent me this:When a man went down, cries of Habet, Hoc habet! (He's had it!), and shouts of Mitte! (Let him go!) or Iugula! (Kill him!) could be heard. If able, the wounded gladiator would lay down his shield and raise his left hand to plea for mercy, which the crowd signified either by extending their thumbs up or down (pollice verso); turning the thumb upwards and jabbing it toward the heart (pollicem vertere) also was a sign of disapproval, and approval indicated by pressing the thumb and forefinger together (pollicem premere). From Gladiators http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa041500b.htm

i have some vague recollection that pollox (or a word something like it) is a name for one of the bones in the the thumb. (and there is a similar word for for one of the bones in the big toe. . . ) does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thx for the 'pollice verso' one. I found it in Chambers last night. Wish there was a verb though (not desuperpollicate). I'm sure I found that other one on Forthright's Phrontistery so I'll search around there.

Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.